Fawad swears at Raja over 'expulsion' of his brother from Imran's legal team

Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry has launched a scathing attack at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja after the latter announced expulsion of the former's brother, Faisal Hussain, from the legal team on "party founder Imran Khan's orders".

"He [Raja] has been placed here just to remove so-and-so," the former minister said while using a cuss word against the top PTI leader in a post on X.

It is worth noting that Chaudhry had parted ways with the Imran Khan-founded party following the crackdown on its leaders in the wake of the violent events of May 9, 2023.

However, the veteran politician denied leaving PTI last year, saying those who abandon something return to it but since he never quit the party, there was no question of him going back.

Raja, while speaking to a private news channel today, called Faisal's role "negative", saying that Imran has ordered removal of him from the legal team.

"The matter was ongoing for a long time and finally it had a drop scene today… Faisal has been removed from the legal committee," he added.

The former ruling party has been facing "internal rifts", with members of its high leadership having differences on various matters.

Recently, Fawad engaged in an altercation with PTI lawyer Shoaib Shaheen at Gate No 5 of Rawalpindi's Adiala jail as the verbal exchange turned into a physical fight after the former federal minister slapped the PTI lawyer, causing the latter to fall to the ground and injuring his arm.

Sources informed Geo News that Chaudhry had called Shaheen a "tout," prompting the latter to respond by telling him to mind his own business.

Talking to journalists after the fight, Chaudhry claimed that Shaheen called him a "deserter" on TV while attributing this remark to the PTI founder. He added that when he verified the claim from Khan, he denied making any such remarks against him.

Chaudhry asked Shaheen not to attribute such remarks to the former premier. However, Khan ordered him to make peace with Shaheen, he claimed, adding that he had reconciled with Shaheen after the scuffle following Khan's directives.

PTI lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha said that former premier Khan expressed sorrow after being informed of the fight between Chaudhry and Shaheen. The matter has been resolved as the party founder reconciled both of them, he claimed.

Contrary to Panjutha's statement, Shaheen denied any reconciliation between him and Chaudhry while addressing a press conference outside the prison.

Calling Fawad a "tout" and "deserter", he claimed that Khan has condemned the scuffle and added that the former federal minister was the one who abandoned the party and he would get a solid response for slapping him.

Shaheen further alleged that Chaudhry had no association with the PTI and was trying to create differences within the party. He added that Chaudhry "came there [at Adiala jail] with a plan to attack me".